Interview 2012: Cold guy?

Cold guy? He was a country boy who used to eat frogs and steal watermelons. And he is excited with his “Confession of Murder” movie debut as a handsome serial killer.

The reporter met actor Park Sihoo at a cafe in Hyoja-dong, Seoul, ahead of the release of the movie “Confession of Murder” (Director Jung Byunggil). He described him as an “attractive man” with Janus’ charm and a”manly man” with a deer’s eyes and an aggressive personality, in contrast to his cold appearance. He is perfect for the role of a serial killer with a dual personality.

“Confession of Murder” is an action thriller about the confrontation between serial killer Lee Dooseok (Park Sihoo) and detective Choi Hyunggu (Jung Jaeyoung) who tried to catch him. After the statute of limitations was over on the serial murder case of women in Yeongok, the serial killer became a celebrity with an autobiography confessing to the murders.

Our Oppa had an interesting childhood

The reporter tried to find out the reality of the preconceived notions surrounding actor Park Sihoo and his curiosity was amplified as he got to know him.

Park Sihoo is a cold guy? He was a village boy and is often misunderstood that he may have come from Seoul’s Gangnam District 8. This was because of his sophisticated appearance and the elite characters he had played so far. But this was a misunderstanding. Born in Buyeo, Chungcheongnam-do, he first went to Gangnam when he came to Seoul in his 20s with an ambition to become an actor.

“You keep saying “cold guy 차도남”, but I think it is because I give an impression of being cold. But if we talk more, you will know that I am not like that at all. I used to catch frogs and was caught stealing watermelons. When I was in school, I used to walk 20 minutes to get to school and used to take the bus.”

Park Sihoo is a shining star? No. he is a hard worker who knew the meaning of waiting. He had struggled for more than a decade since he came to Seoul to become an actor in his early 20s. When he was an unknown,  he was an “underwear model” and this had drawn attention.

When he received the offer to appear in “Confession of Murder”, it was the end of the filming of KBS2 drama “The Princess Man”. He had wanted to rest, but he knew that there were not many opportunities to meet good works, so he “forced” himself to take up the offer.

He more a cool guy than a cold guy!

“The content was tempting. Originally, I really wanted to play the role of a psychopath like Edward Norton in “Primal Fear”. When I asked when the filming would start, I was told it would be two days later. (Laughs). I wanted to refuse because I needed a break, but the script was so solid that I became more immersed in the role. I also had faith in Jung Jaeyoung, so I became greedy.”

Park Sihoo is picky? He is obedient and does as he is told. This time he had to perform action scenes and he did not hesitate to stretch the limits as an actor. Director Jung Byunggil is the director of “Action Boys” which depicted the lives of action double actors. He only worked with stuntmen, so he was oblivious to the actors’ safety. In the car chase scene, Park Sihoo had to hang on to the bonnet of a moving car and had to shoot continuously for 10 days. Even thinking about it now, he was shaking his head.

“I wasn’t expecting it, but I was supposed to do it myself” (Nance: He was referring to the filming of the car chase). After the collision, the car spun round and round.  Just when I thought the filming was done, they asked me to film it again. I almost gave up. It was so different from dramas that I asked Jung Jaeyoung, “Do you usually film like this?” and he said “yes”. So I did it without saying anything.”

Park Sihoo is one cool dude!

“But it turned out that the senior lied to help the director. (Laugh) What was harder than that was the swimming pool scene. I had to expose my upper body, so I starved for four days and jumped into the swimming pool, and the water was cold. It was so hard that I wanted to give up.”

Park Sihoo wants to focus on movies? No, he chose SBS drama “Cheongdamdong Alice” as his next project. After they succeed in dramas, many male actors appeared in movies and they tended to focus on movies. Park Sihoo had also thought about it because of the poor quality of  drama filming sites, but he will continue to appear in dramas for fans who cared about him

“Putting all your effort into the filming of a movie is a unique experience. However, in order to interact with fans often, the ripple effect of dramas cannot be ignored. Just five to six years ago, I used to envy Hallyu stars who had a following of fans. Then I got a fanbase too. It is so amazing to see two or three fans at first and then their numbers increasing one by one. I want to show my face to them often. But I also want to continue making good movies.”